The touchscreen works easily to select audio, set a road course or connect a phone.

The front seats have head and legroom for a 6-foot-6-inch male with size 16 shoes. (Colin McBride, the tall colleague who occasionally “sizes” my testers, also said he had more footroom than in his Toyota Highlander.)

The front seats have head and legroom for a 6-foot-6-inch male with size 16 shoes. (Colin McBride, the tall colleague who occasionally “sizes” my testers, also said he had more footroom than in his Toyota Highlander.)

The DSG is an automated manual, which used to allow the car to roll backward or forward on an incline if the driver were to lift e driver lifts a foot from the brake. It used to in earlier iterations, behaving just as a manual transmission with the clutch depressed. Now, the car actually edges ahead, which will be far less alarming to new users of this type of transmission.

The DSG is an automated manual, which used to allow the car to roll backward or forward on an incline if the driver were to lift e driver lifts a foot from the brake. It used to in earlier iterations, behaving just as a manual transmission with the clutch depressed. Now, the car actually edges ahead, which will be far less alarming to new users of this type of transmission.

Trunk space is large at 15.4 cubic feet, which is as much as some midsize sedans.

Trunk space is large at 15.4 cubic feet, which is as much as some midsize sedans.

Mark Maynard | WHEELS EDITOR

The New Beetle was a charmer for design and cute as its namesake with some clever features. But give me a VW Golf GTI any day, which used to share a platform and engines. It was much more spirited to drive and had more functional interior space.

But now VW is pushing harder to reach me and more male drivers with the re-engineered 2012 Beetle. It is longer by six inches, 3.3 inches wider and with a half-inch lower roofline. It looks racier now, less cute.

The wider-and-longer body has done wonders for handling, not to mention elbow room and back-seat space. And the 200-horsepower Turbo model puts a stinger in this bug.

There a half-dozen trim levels, with pricing that starts at $20,565 for the base model with 170-hp, 2.5-liter, five-cylinder engine and five-speed manual transmission. Add $1,100 for the six-speed automatic, known as the Direct Shift Gearbox, which is an automated manual. The midrange 2.5L Beetle with a panoramic sunroof and automatic starts at $24,165 and the top-line Turbo (today’s test car) with sunroof, Fender audio system, navigation system and leather-trimmed seats is $29,765 with six-speed manual.

A diesel model goes on sale later this year and there will be a convertible model.

I began my test week somewhat patronizing, but the good Beetle bones couldn’t be ignored. Sightlines are clear all around and the front seats have head and legroom for a 6-foot-6-inch male with size 16 shoes. (The tall colleague who occasionally “sizes” my testers also said he had more footroom than in his Toyota Highlander.)